Infant&#39;s bath



Nov. 8, 1949 E. G. FEICHTMEIR INFANT'S BATH 7 Filed Aug. 14, 1947 JN VENTOR. I %mjzaww Patented Nov. 8, 1949 UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE m eBATH a Ervin G. Feichtmeir, Chicago, Ill. Application August 14,1942,Serial No. 768,605 7 2 Claims. (01.444)

The invention disclosed in this specification is an infants bath. Thebath-is preferably formed of a flexible water-proof fabric tub,suspended from a rectangular supporting frame and arranged to beremovably positioned in a conventional type of bathtub, so that thefabric tub is inside of and supported by the rigid'tub structure.

It is'one 'Of theprimary objects of the invention to'provide aninfantstub that combines the desirable features of convenience, strength,rigidity, and safety when in use, yet is collapsible so- .that it may bedismantled and carried in a compact package, not only so that it may beeasily packed in luggage when it becomes'necessary to take it'from placeto place, but also so that the ltubs" may 'be conveniently packaged formerchandising. a

1 Another important object of the invention lies in the provision of aninfant's flexible fabric :bathtub designed-sothat'when it is positionedin a conventional tub it is supported by and held in assembled relationby the rigid walls ofwthe tub, so'that there is no possibility oftipping or falling. The supporting frame is preferably arranged so thatthe upper edge of the fabric tub lies somewhatibelow thetop rim of-;the;conventional tub,

with [the result that it becomes unlikely thatan infant can lean so farover the tub edge as to fall out. Another advantage of this arrangementis that-any water splashed over the edges of the infant's tub. fallsinto the larger tub, and is not spilled on the floor.

Still further. objects of the invention are to provide a mounting'for a'fabric tub within a conventional bathtub so arranged that the infantstube maybe rigidly supported in tubs oi -various widths, yet designed sothat there will be no possibility of marring or scratching the finish ofthe larger tub.

The foregoing objects are accomplished in this disclosure by theprovision of a flexible fabric tub suspended from a supporting frameconsisting of longitudinal and transverse rails extending along thesides and across the ends of the tub, and joined at their corners byrubber blocks shaped to fit the curvature of the rim of a conventionalIbathtub so as to lock the frame in assembled relation as well as holdit in position. A present preferred embodiment of the invention isillustrated in the drawings attached hereto and substantially on theplane of line 2=-2 of Figure 1.

Figure 3 is a detail sectional view taken substantially on the plane ofline 3-3 of Figure 1.

Figure 4 is'a detail sectional view taken substantially on the plane ofline 4-4 of Figure 1, and

' Figure 5 is a perspective view 0f one of the rubber mounting blocks ofthe supporting frame. The device is illustrated in position in aconventional cast iron bathtub, generally indicated at 6. The inner tubis made of flexible but waterproof fabric, with a bottom 1, side walls 8and end walls 9. The side walls -8 are each provided with a hem l0 alongthe upper edge so that the longitudinal edges may be supported on metalrails I l extending along the side walls of the tub while the ends havehems l2 supported by cross rails 13 extending transversely of the tub.The rails II and 13 are mounted in four rubber blocks l4, each of whichare provided with a socket I5 to receive an end of one of thelongitudinal rails :l I, and a socket Hi to receive one end Of the crossrails l3. The blocks l4 are preferably molded of rubber having adurometer hardness of about 72,. so that they provide afirm support forthe rails. Thesock'ets t5 and [6. may be molded slightly smaller thanthe diameter of the rails if desired, so that when the :ends of therails are inserted, they will be snugly held in position. In addition,the socket IIGm-aybe made sufficiently deep so that filler plugs I! maybe inserted, to limit the penetrationof the rails l3 into the socket sothat the distancebetween the opposite iblocks I4 may be adjusted toconform to the dimension of the individual tub: in which theassembly isg- I Eachofrthe blocks [4 includes a generally verticalsurface IB tobear against the fiat side wall surface 22 of the rim. Thus it will beseen that when the structure is in position in a conventional bathtub,the projections 20 extend well beyond the side walls IQ of the tub, sothat the engagement between the curved surfaces 2| of these projectionsand the rims '22 of the tub act to limit the downward movement of theframe, and positions the longitudinal supporting rails l I at a pointgenerally parallel with, but somewhat below, the rim of the tub. Itfollows that when water is accidentally splashed over the side of thefabric tub, it will not splash on the floor but will be received in thelarger tub and will flow to the drain. Also, the position of the edge ofthe inner tube below the rim of the outer tub makes it almost impossiblefor an infant to crawl over the edge and fall out. The cross rails I3and plugs I! prevent inward movement of the rubber blocks, so that theentire assembly is held in assembled relation as long as it is withinthe tub and cannot be disassembled without first lifting it directlyupward above the tub rim. This avoids any possibility of accidentaldisassembly or collapse of the structure, and the inherent rigidity ofthe conventional bathtub eliminates any possibility of accidentaltipping.

To remove the structure from the tub, it is only necessary to lift theblocks [4 upwardly. The

rails l l and I3 may then be withdrawn from their sockets to collapsethe assembly. The fabric tub may then be folded in any convenient mannerand and the rails and blocks may be wrapped within the fabric to form aneat and compact package that may be easily carried or packed in atraveling bag.

The rubber of the blocks i4 is practically indestructible and the-railsH and I3 may be made of rust-proof metal rods if desired, so that thesupporting frame of the tub Will be practically indestructible. Thedesign of the assembly solves the greatest diificulties heretoforeencountered in devices of this type, not only since it practicallyeliminates the possibility of an infant falling over the side, as iseasily possible with other constructions, but also in that it cannottip, and that there is almost no likelihood of splashing the water withenough violence to spill it on the floor. These advantages are of greatimportance from a practical viewpoint and have heretofore never beensatisfactorily accomplished, yet by these teachings they areaccomplished easily and by a mechanical design of unusual simplicity andarranged so that there is no possibility of marring or scratching thesurface enamel of the tub in which the unit is installed. The inherentsimplicity of the structure is also an advantage from a commercialstandpoint, since it means that the device may be economicallymanufactured, and consequently sold at a sufficiently low price to findready acceptance.

The form of the invention illustrated in the drawings and describedherein has been chosen as an illustration of the teachings of theinvention, but it should be recognized that the inventive thought is notlimited to the precise structure shown and that certain variations ormodifications may be made without sacrifice of all of these advantagesof the teaching. It is accordingly pointed out that the scope of theinvention is not limited to the illustration but extends to anymodifications coming within the terms of the appended claims.

Having thus described the invention, what I claim as new and desire toprotect by United States Letters Patent is:

1. In an infant's bath adapted to be mounted in a conventional bath tub,the combination of a flexible tub having hems along its edges to receivesupporting rails; a pair of longitudinal supporting rails extendingthrough the hems along the opposite sides of the tub and a pair oftransverse supporting rails extending through the hems at the oppositeends; corner supports for the rails at each corner of the tub, each ofsaid corner supports comprising a yieldable block of resilient materialhaving a pair of sockets at right angles to each other to receive andsupport the end oi one of the longitudinal and one of the transverse.rails, with a surface to engage the side wall of a conventional bath tuband with an outwardly extending projection to overhang the upper rim ofthe tub and support the frame and flexibletub therein.

2. In an iniants bath adapted to be mounted in a conventional bath tub,the combination of a flexible tub having hems along its edges to receivesupporting rails; a pair of longitudinal supporting rails extendingthrough the hems along the opposite sides of the tub and a. pair oftransverse supporting rails extending through the hems at the oppositeends; corner supports for the rails at each corner of the tub, each 01'said' corner supports comprising a yieldable block of resilient materialhaving a pair of sockets at right angles to each other to receive andsupport the end of one of the longitudinal and one of the transverserails. with a surface to engage the side wall of a conventional bath tuband with an outwardly extending projection to. overhang the upper rim ofthe tub and support the frame and flexible tub therein; together withremovable plugs in at least one of the sockets of the corner supports tolimit the penetration of a transverse rail into the socket and thusaddust the frame to fit various conventional tubs.

ERVIN G. FEICH'I'MEIR.

REFERENCES CITED The following references are'of record in the the ofthis patent:

UNITED STATES PATENTS Number Name Date 821,230 Fowler May 22, 19061,327,295 Smith Jan. 6, 1920 FOREIGN PATENTS Number Country Date 112,508Great Britain Jan. 11, 1918

